Royal Bank of Canada and National Bank of Canada led the 7.5 per cent surge in bonus awards among the country’s lenders this year, bucking a global trend of pay cuts on Wall Street and in London.

Royal Bank, Canada’s biggest by assets, and National, the sixth-largest lender, boosted variable compensation 11 per cent in the year ended Oct. 31. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was the only one among the group to pare its bonus pool, trimming 2 per cent from last year’s allocation.

“The Canadian bonuses are not remarkable, but relative to what their peers are getting in London and the U.S., it’s great,” Bill Vlaad, president of Toronto-based recruitment firm Vlaad & Co., said.

“We never saw the true upside of the glory years in the bull market, but we’ve reaped the rewards now by not having the abysmal downside in the tough years.”